Edwin Ernest Salpeter

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Alternative Title:
Edwin Salpeter

Edwin Ernest Salpeter, Austrian-born American astrophysicist(born Dec. 3, 1924, Vienna, Austria—died Nov. 26, 2008, Ithaca, N.Y.), provided insights into stellar evolution and processes. In 1951 Salpeter showed how carbon atoms could be produced from helium atoms in the nuclear reactions deep within certain stars and for the first time provided an explanation for the origin of elements heavier than helium. He later determined the mass distribution of newly formed stars. Early in his career, Salpeter worked in quantum electrodynamics, and with German-born American theoretical physicist Hans Bethe, he developed (1951) a relativistic mathematical description of the bound state between two elementary particles. Shortly before World II, Salpeter immigrated to Australia with his parents. He received a B.Sc. (1944) from the University of Sydney and a M.Sc. (1945) and a Ph.D. (1948) from the University of Birmingham, Eng. As a postdoctoral student, Salpeter moved (1949) to Cornell University, Ithaca, where he spent his career. He became (1954) a professor at the university and retired (1997) as professor emeritus.